Essay
by Hasky
Summary: Charlotte comes home with a task – to write a romance about her parents falling in love… but what is romantic about meeting in the woods over a dead body!


**Declaimer: again just and purely _FANFICTION_, no profit except joy from readers**

**Little something from my fantasy H&G future**

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><p>Gail came home after another afternoon spent outside. Being a white shirt was one thing, being trained as a tracker was something different. She was the best when it came to the field work therefore whenever there was someone to be found, Gail was called into the action. Truthfully she loved her job and spending time outside was a welcome distraction from the paperwork and officialises.<p>

With a sigh she took off her shoes in the hall and went to the open lounge room. There on the couch she noticed a mop of dark hair from one side and bare feet from the other. The blonde had to chuckle. Twenty years had passed since she met her wife in the forest for the first time and Gail never stopped thanking her lucky star for that encounter.

"Hey honey, I am home," the officer said gently in a singing tone.

Holly looked from behind the sofa and smiled back widely. "Hi. Did you find the boy?"

Gail rolled her eyes playfully. "Duh… Don't forget whom you are talking to." She went around the couch and bent down to kiss the brunette on the lips. "Thank you for your help with the dirt." Their last item of a kidnapped boy was his discarded hoodie which was immediately sent to Holly's laboratory for analysis.

"I told you that dirt is not just a mess but can content valuable information when you look at it the right way and –"

"Alright, yes." Gail rolled her eyes and leant back in to capture Holly's lips again to stop her from geeking out about isotopes and chemical elements. "We are a great team."

The doctor placed her scientific book on the coffee table and sat up. "So, do you want something to eat?"

"Nah, I need to let go of some killing steam. The kidnapper was one mad douche head that I almost killed in the interrogation room." Gail stood up and turned on the TV preparing the PlayStation for her favourite shooting game. "Would you believe that someone kidnapped a random boy, saying it's his kid, because some charlatan told him he would meet his son soon?" Holly raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "If anyone tried to take our girls I swear I would shoot them on the spot. I would seriously maim them, no matter what reason they had."

Holly hugged her wife from behind while Gail was untangling the cables. "People are way too scared of Inspector Peck to dare to harm her daughters. Also I believe potential kidnappers are very aware of the fact that I would help you dispose the bodies." She kissed Gail's cheek and stepped back to continue her research.

Gail sat down on the carpet, leaning against the couch as she started her assassin mission.

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><p>Later in the afternoon the door opened again. This time it was a thirteen years old girl entering her home. With a heavy sigh she took off her shoes and went to the dining area. She placed her school bag on a chair at the table and looked to the living room. "Hi, Mom." She noticed the TV going just when the player was jumping at their victim. "And hi Mum."<p>

"Hi honey."

"Hi Charlie," Gail shot a quick glance at her younger daughter, whose Peck features could not be denied. Except her eyes were hazel coloured. Eyes that now looked tired and upset. "What's up?"

"Don't want to talk about it. Mind if I join you?"

"Sure." Gail switched the game to multiplayers and they shared their bonding time over a fun they both enjoyed. Until Charlotte stole Gail's points for the main kill. "Hey! That was my guy."

"Like you said, _was_."

"So, wanna share your distress of the day?"

"Literature homework - romance stuff." There was a combined "Oh" from both of her parents. "One more round? I promise to let you win."

"You wish, tot."

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><p>In the middle of the game Gail heard the door opened for the third time. She noticed a hustle and footsteps… actually two sets of footsteps. "Aliyah, it's polite to greet your family when you come home!"<p>

"Damn, Mum, you are worse than Aunt Priscilla, you hear everything," the girl mumbled as she came to the room, rolling her eyes. "Hi Mum, hi Mom, hi Charlie." Aliyah, their first born, was a spit image of Holly, the officer wondered where all the Peck genes went. The only link was the sometimes abrasive attitude, but that could also be caused by her teenage years. Honestly Gail hoped it was the puberty to be blamed. "Look, I am just going for my science kit and I am out of here."

"Maybe first you could introduce us to your guest."

"I told you not to move," Aliyah accused her schoolmate. "Not even to breathe."

"Sorry, my lungs' capacity has its limit." It was a boy, tall and skinny but with kind face and shaggy brown hair. "Hi Inspector Peck, Doctor Stewart, I am Dan O'Neil," he smiled and waved.

"Sweet," the older girl commented, rolling her eyes. "I am going for my stuff."

"Oi Ali?" called Charlotte. "Do you think you can find somewhere your literature homework for Stevenson?"

"Which one?"

"Parents romance crap."

"Oh… that one, erm…" All heads were turned her way. "I… didn't do it."

"What do you mean? He said it was crucial for our grades."

"Yeah well, I traded it with Melissa for her biology term work." She bashfully looked at her mothers. Holly had her left eyebrow raised and Gail looked like she had hard time to keep her face serious. On the other hand, Dan laughed out loud.

"Is that why you read it like you hadn't seen it before?" he noted.

"What do you mean?"

"It was horrible."

"I got B+."

"Yeah, but you put no feelings in there. You read without any real interest, like it was some scientific article. Well, I guess even that would excite you more." He sat beside Charlotte and took her notepad. "Let me have a look."

"Literature dork," whispered Aliyah and went upstairs for her scientific tool box.

"Dan, would you like a glass of water or juice?" offered Holly continuing her way from living room to the kitchen.

"No, thank you, Doctor, we will be out when I fix this," he pointed to the notes in front of him and turned his attention to Charlotte. "You cannot start a story with _'My parents met in the woods over a 10 years old human skeleton'_."

"But it's true!"

"It's romance not science. You have to make it wide and colourful. Feel the atmosphere."

"Smelly bone? Shrieking people?" Charlotte gave him the typical you-must-be-kidding-me look.

"Al-right," the boy prolonged his sigh. "Obviously you would be the same nerd as Ali. Use your imagination. Let it go to the places you would like it to go. Modify the scene to your likes. Make it a beautiful day in the woods where two people met over a job related case. As the day went on they enjoyed each other's company –"

"And I am screwed," Charlotte interrupted him. "The minute I say woods, job and enjoying company, especially since my mother is a doctor, I am screwed. Doctor in the woods, really?"

"My parents met at a funeral house and I still had to make it romantic."

Gail looked at her wife. "And I thought we had the weirdest first meeting."

"Definitely the weirdest first conversation."

"I was guarding the scene and you passed me like nothing happened."

"Oh Gail, I always pass your guards," said Holly in a banter voice.

"Yeah, usually with boring medical jurisprudence lessons."

"Gail, not even then anyone dared to call me names and you just called me 'Lunchbox' and forbid me to go to my crime scene."

"You didn't have the nerd suit, how was I supposed to know?"

"I had my medical kit."

Gail nodded eagerly. "Lunchbox."

In her peripheral vision Charlotte noticed the boy scribing something zealously, but her main focus stayed on her parents, watching them like a tennis match.

"You were one piece of work ever since then," teased Holly. "But since you volunteered to accompany me to the morgue, my boring lessons couldn't be so boring after all."

"Depends on the lessons," murmured the blonde. "Cruz said she would stick around, I had no choice. Plus you seemed quite interesting. I couldn't scare you away," she shrugged.

"No, you made me more attracted, especially when you read my journals. That was hot."

"Coronary arteriosclerosis: Analysis of an autopsy, written by Dr Holly Stewart, Phd. Yeah, I remember that one. It was the amazing mumbo jumbo I had to skip half of the text to understand and then stole the journal to google out what I did not. Who wouldn't enjoy that?!"

"Did you ask me to the wedding to _'unnoticeably'_ return the journal?"

"That too. And you were my source of fun. You should be flattered I asked you to my boss's wedding, with my pleasant company as your plus one."

"I thought _I_ was your plus one."

"Detail. Anyway I guess it was bearable when we were miserable together."

"Oh yeah, especially in the coat closet with your insane interrogation about two women getting dressed together."

"Half of my brain was filled with bubbles. I could not think straight. Or you couldn't… at least keep your tongue to yourself."

"I had not been straight for a very looong time, Gail. You were cute and rambling, you asked for it. And that moment there was no tongue. I barely touched you."

"Do they do this often?" asked Dan quietly.

"Flirt? On daily basis since like forever," replied Charlotte.

The boy chuckled. "They are worse than my parents," he commented and continued writing.

"You touched me long enough to mess up my brain for the night… and for the shrink session," continued the officer. "Darn he old lady, she knew I was about to switch teams!"

"Is that when you fall in love?" asked Charlotte.

"Yes," replied Holly with a smile.

"No," declined Gail.

"You talked to a shrink about me?" asked the doctor.

"Maybe, doesn't matter. You were not allowed to kiss me."

"And you were?"

"It was batting cages and hanging out with strangers later."

Holly started laughing. "Batting cages, I remember that like yesterday. Instead of hitting the ball, you threw your bat at the ball."

"You said it was cathartic and it wouldn't kill me to try something new. You could not be more wrong."

"And yet a week later we went again. After your oxycodone trip. I still don't understand the freaky pink baby elephant."

"I don't know what you are talking about," frown the other woman. "But I admit I really liked hanging out with you. And when I asked you to meet me at the Penny sometimes, I meant you, me, and my dorky flatmates, not you bringing another chick."

"It was a setup by Lisa. And believe me I do care about my safety and the safest place to meet someone for the first time is a bar full of cops. Especially since that someone is good with chirurgical tools." Gail pouted and Holly looked her up and down. "You were jealous?!" she yelped in realisation.

"Is that when you fell for Mom?" asked Charlotte.

"Not really. Well, Holly was _my_ friend, she should have been hanging out with me, not some random person whom she barely knew."

"You were jealous." This time it was a statement with Holly's typical quirked grin.

"And yet it was you who appeared at the station the very next day," teased Gail.

"Yeah well, I was emotional. It's not every day your colleagues talked about some crazy guy shooting the people at 15th and actually sending a female officer to the hospital in a critical condition."

"That was a messed up day. But also it was quite funny to see the always put together doctor rushing to the station because _'… the currier was sick or something'_."

"It did not help when you told me you had been shot at."

"That was the part that sent you rambling even more. You practically told you me you were totally into me and you were unstoppable."

"Oh, you did find a way how to shut me up."

"When you said _'… or something'_ again within two minutes, you _had to_ be stopped."

"How?" wondered Charlotte.

"By quite a make-out," smiled Holly.

"Did they teach that at the police academy?" wondered Charlotte. "Silence your companion by using your tongue."

"Not exactly. And no Charlie, I still was not sure I was in love with your mom," said Gail when she noticed her daughter taking another breath.

"Then why did you kissed her?" wondered the girl.

"I don't really know. It was the heat of the moment, the mess around, the fear of dying and never letting Holly know that I truly liked her," she looked up to the warm brown eyes. "On our first day I stated I hated people, but you were different. I liked you a lot, just wasn't sure which way."

"When did you find out exactly?" asked Holly.

"At the hospital. I was mad at myself that I had brushed you off before. We were attacked at our own base and Sam ended in the hospital just when we got Oliver back. Everything just fell apart and I needed you by my side. I wanted you by my side. You were my rock where I felt safe. You were the first person in many years to whom I opened up… because I fell for you. I fell for you hard." Holly's smile broadened and she pecked Gail's lips. "I admit later on there were not my greatest moments, but well…"

"You mean the moment when you cut off your hair."

"You did _what_?!" yelped Charlotte in surprise.

"Oh, it's a story of that said long day, half a bottle of bourbon and my scissors," outlined Holly the late night/early morning which made her spend another hour giving Gail a new haircut. "I did a pretty good job though. All the beauty courses I was dragged in by Rachel and Lisa must rub on me."

"Until you released the freezing water. That was not cool."

"Oh come on, you were all hot for me."

"I dare say the feeling was mutual. Especially when you pulled off my wet sweatshirt –"

"Too much information!" interrupted them their youngest kid. "I really don't need to hear everything."

The couple broke from their dream world and chuckled, both women remembering the events of the fateful night and mostly the morning after.

Aliyah descended the stairs with a jump and called for her partner. "Hey, Shakespeare, are you ready?"

"Just a sec." Dan wrote some more notes and gave them to Charlotte. "Use this as your groundwork and you should do just fine." He stood up to put on his shoes.

The girl quickly scanned the notes, amazed by the proper work. "You really are the next Shakespeare!" she exclaimed in awe. "It's awesome, thanks a lot."

"Don't sweat it. Ali will pay the favour," he winked at Charlotte and turned to his partner.

Aliyah rolled her eyes. "I knew I would have to do the autopsy since the moment we were paired up. At least Charlie has something from it."

"Hey, I will help to catch the frog and take notes."

"Just don't turn it in another romance about the insides of a living creature."

"Inspector, Doctor, Charlotte, it was a pleasure to meet you," he said his goodbyes with a bow.

"Oh no, out of here!" commanded Aliyah.

"What did I do?"

"I will not let you court my sister. Get out!" She pushed him out of the door and closed it shut behind them.

"Alright I am going upstairs to rewrite this," said Charlotte, took the sheet of paper and her bag.

Once the parents were left alone in the kitchen, Holly turned to her wife, smiling. "We did well."

"Yeah." Gail replied looking after their kids. Then she turned her attention to the brunette, leaning in for a kiss. A profound one, during which she pinned Holly to the kitchen counter, snogging her deeply. She pushed the scientist up and stepped between her legs, letting her own hands wander under the t-shirt, smoothing the bare skin. Holly moaned and pulled Gail even closer running her fingers into the tick blonde mane that over the years grew under the shoulder blades.

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><p>Charlotte had her homework almost done, but the past tenses in writing form were still a mystery to her. She took her notes and went downstairs. "Hey, Mom, what tense do I use –" she trailed off when she noticed her parents making out like teenagers.<p>

"Sorry, what?" Holly asked, pulling away and looked up to her daughter. Her voice was hoarse from the previous action.

The girl frowned. "You know what, never mind. I'll come later… or you come later when you are done. Meantime I am going to listen to music. _Loud_ music," she pointed out and went back to her room.

On the stairs she looked back to the kitchen. Her parents were back in kissing activity. It was definitely not the first time for her or her sister to run into the couple professing their love to each other by using many different ways. Fortunately for the girls, all encounters were PG rated.

Charlotte smiled broadly. Yup, they were one perfect family.

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><p><em><strong>thank you for<strong>** reading!**_


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